Method for Synchronizing Proximity Network and Electronic Device Thereof

1. An electronic device comprising: a short-range communication module configured to perform communication with one or more external electronic devices; a memory configured to store a first security level of a first cluster including the electronic device; and a processor configured to: acquire a message associated with a second cluster from a first external electronic device included in the second cluster through the short-range communication module, identify a second security level of the second cluster at least based on the acquired message, determine whether to synchronize the second cluster based on whether the second security level is higher than a reference level, restrict the synchronization with the second cluster and control the short-range communication module to transmit information corresponding to the first security level to the first external electronic device when the second security level is higher than the reference level, and synchronize the electronic device with the second cluster when the second security level is lower than or equal to the reference level.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first cluster includes a second external electronic device, and the processor is further configured to control the short-range communication module to broadcast a message including the second security level to the second external electronic device.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether to synchronize the second cluster based on a first size of the first cluster and a second size of the second cluster, and wherein the processor is further configured to: compare the second size with the first size; and determine whether to synchronize the second cluster based on the comparison result.

4. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the first size is determined according to one of a number of electronic devices included in the first cluster, a number of hops of the electronic devices included in the first cluster, a number of services provided by the electronic devices synchronized with the first cluster, and a combination thereof, and the second size is determined according to one of a number of electronic devices included in the second cluster, a number of hops of the electronic devices included in the second cluster, a number of services provided by the electronic devices synchronized with the second cluster, and a combination thereof.

5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to extract a size of a service response filter based on an interface address of other electronic devices included in the first cluster, and estimate the number of the electronic devices included in the first cluster based on the size of the service response filter.

6. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the second cluster is synchronized with a third cluster, and wherein the second size includes a maximum number of hops included in the second cluster and the third cluster.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first cluster and the second cluster comprise at least one of a neighbor awareness networking (NAN) and a low-power local area network.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to: compare the first security level with the reference level, restrict the synchronization with the second cluster when the first security level is higher than the reference level, and perform an operation that determines whether to synchronize the second cluster based on whether the second security level is higher than the reference level when the first security level is lower than the reference level.

9. An electronic device comprising: a short-range communication module configured to perform communication with one or more external electronic devices; a memory configured to store a first size of a first cluster including the electronic device; and a processor configured to: acquire a message associated with a second cluster from a first external electronic device included in the second cluster through the short-range communication module, identify a second size of the second cluster at least based on the acquired message, maintain synchronization with the first cluster when the first size of the first cluster is greater than the second size of the second cluster, and synchronize the electronic device to the second cluster when the first size of the first cluster is less than or equal to the second size of the second cluster, wherein the first size of the first cluster is obtained by extracting a size of a service response filter based on an interface address of other electronic devices included in the first cluster and estimating a number of the electronic devices included in the first cluster based on the size of the service response filter.

10. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the first size is determined according to one of a number of electronic devices included in the first cluster, a number of hops of the electronic devices included in the first cluster, a number of services provided by the electronic devices synchronized with the first cluster, a security level set for the first cluster, and a combination thereof, and the second size is determined according to one of a number of electronic devices included in the second cluster, a number of hops of the electronic devices included in the second cluster, a number of services provided by the electronic devices synchronized with the second cluster, a security level set for the second cluster, or a combination thereof.

11. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the first cluster comprises a second external electronic device, and wherein the processor is further configured to: control the short-range communication module to broadcast a message including the second size to the second external electronic device; and synchronize with the second cluster.

12. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the first cluster and the second cluster include at least one of a neighbor awareness networking (NAN) and a low-power local area network.

13. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the first size of the first cluster based on the size of the service response filter, the number of bits of the service response filter, and the number of hash functions included in the service response filter.

14. A method of an electronic device included in a first cluster having a first security level, the method comprising: acquiring a message associated with a second cluster from a first external electronic device included in the second cluster; identifying a second security level of the second cluster at least based on the acquired message; determining whether to synchronize the second cluster based on whether the second security level is higher than a reference level; restricting the synchronization with the second cluster and transmitting information corresponding to the first security level to the first external electronic device when the second security level is higher than the reference level; and synchronizing the electronic device with the second cluster when the second security level does is lower than or equal to the reference level.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first cluster includes a second external electronic device, and synchronizing the electronic device with the second cluster includes broadcasting a message including the second security level to the second external electronic device.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining whether to synchronize the second cluster based on whether the second security level is higher than the reference level comprises: determining whether to synchronize the second cluster based on a first size of the first cluster and a second size of the second cluster.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first size is determined according to one of a number of electronic devices included in the first cluster, a number of hops of the electronic devices included in the first cluster, a number of services provided by the electronic devices synchronized with the first cluster, and a combination thereof, and the second size is determined according to one of a number of electronic devices included in the second cluster, a number of hops of the electronic devices included in the second cluster, a number of services provided by the electronic devices synchronized with the second cluster, and a combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising: extracting a size of a service response filter based on an interface address of other electronic devices included in the first cluster; and determining the number of the electronic devices included in the first cluster based on the control parameter.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the second cluster is synchronized with a third cluster, and the second size comprises a maximum number of hops included in the second cluster and the third cluster.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining whether to synchronize the second cluster based on whether the second security level is higher than the reference level comprises: comparing the first security level with the reference level; restricting the synchronization with the second cluster when the first security level is higher than the reference level; and performing an operation that determines whether to synchronize the second cluster based on whether the second security level is higher than the reference level when the first security level is lower than the reference level.